Mary of Hungary

…Margaret and later his sister Mary, who retained control and worked toward further centralization even when he was in the country.

…to build a palace for Mary of Hungary, regent of the Netherlands and sister to Charles V (Holy Roman emperor and king of Spain). She held a great fete there in 1549 to celebrate the Spanish conquest of Peru. The ramparts and the town suffered at the hands of the…

The country’s regent—Charles’s sister, Mary of Hungary—had proved incapable of settling the conflict between herself and the city, which jealously guarded its prerogatives. On his arrival in February 1540, Charles revoked Ghent’s privileges, had 13 leading rebels executed, and gave orders to build a fortified castle. Once again his…